The nature of the competition with the teams playing two, 60-minute matches meant everyone was able to play a full game – senior players and trialists.

“It was a great day for us,” Bentley said afterwards.

“There was a good following from the fans today; the event ran smoothly and everyone seemed to enjoy it which is what it’s all about.

“It was really enjoyable and it’s always good to test yourself against two good quality opponents, as well as being able to get 60 minutes (football) into the whole squad, stepping things up after the 45 minutes against Bamber Bridge on Tuesday night.

“I thought there were some very strong performances but I’m not reading too much into the results.”

What did please the manager, however, was what happened at both ends of the pitch.

Clean sheets against teams from the Championship and League One aren’t to be sniffed at, while four goals from three different scorers cheered everyone in the Shrimps’ camp.

“What we want to do is build good habits,” Bentley said.

“We’ve scored goals, kept clean sheets, come through the day injury-free and the players have got more minutes under their belts.

“The main things at the moment are getting everyone up to speed, coming through it fit and well and enjoying it.

“It’s always tough for the first couple of weeks but, once that’s over, the lads are champing at the bit to get some game time.”